Improvement in sewing-machines



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UNITED STATES' artnr @ritieni FRANCIS DrBALLOU, 0F ABINGTN, ASSIGNOR T@ALFRED B. ELY, UF NEWIN, MASSACHUSETTS.

BMPRVEMENT EN SEWlNGI-NWACHENS.

Specification forming part of Letters-Patent No. ttth, dated October 3,i865.

To all whom it 'may concern:

15e it known that I, FRANCIS D. BALLOU, of Ahingtomin the countyofPlymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in the Presser-Foot for Sewing-Machines; andIdo herebydeclare that the followingis a full, clear, and accurate description ofthe construction and operation ot' the same, reference being had to theannexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in whicht Figurel is a view in. elevation of one side vofthe machine. Fig. 2 is a frontelevation thereof, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same.V

To cause the descent of the eye of the needle in sewing-machines alwaysto the lsame point,

v to permit the shuttle or hook to enter its loop and let the needlehave its proper upward throw to draw the stitch and permit the feed tooperate, it has hitherto been found necessary to use a varying handadjustment when sewingmaterials of varying thickness; and it is theobject of myinvention to insure the descent ot the eye of theneedlealways to the same point in sewing materials of varying thickness andautomatically change the distance of its upward throw; and to this endmy invention consists in the employment of a presser-foot which, inaccommodating itself to the varying thickness of materials to be sewed,shall change the fulcruin of the needle-lever automatically, so as tovary its upstroke to suit the varying thickness of material 'and alwaysleave its downstroke the same, that the loop ot' the needle-thread mayalways receive the shuttle or looper at the same point to secure uniformstitching, while the varying ascent of the needle shall draw each stitchwith equal force lwhen sewing materials of varying thickness under acontinuous and uniform feed. l

lll-pontile horizontal table A, of the usual form for sewing machines, Iplace y a xed standard, I3, to support and guide the needle bar C andthe steek D ot' the presser-foot E, both of which can slide verticallythrough proporly-placed mortises covered by the plates 1 and 2.Thene'edle-bar receives its vertical reciprocating motion from the leverF, which is actuated by the crank G, to which it is con` nected by therod or pitman H, the crank 4being rotated either by a driving-heit orthe handle g.

In this example ot' the application of my incient distance to permit theneedle-lever F to vibrate in the slot; hutl by no means desire to belimited to such. arrangement.

The lever F has a central longitudinal slot, J, that permits it a freelongitudinal motion on its fulcrum K, and this fulcrum K moves 'forward'and hack in the inclined slots or grooves L in the standards M and N,the slots I and L and the fulcrum K being shown in dotted lines in Fig.l.

rllhe stock D of the presser-foot is attached atits lower end by a looseslot and pin to the short arm ofthe crank-lever 0, so as to permit thelever to vibrate, and the leveris supported by and vibrates on a pin inthe short standard or step I. Thelong arm ofthe lever isattaohed bystraps Q and Q to the fulcruni K, with which they have a rigidconnection; but the straps have a free movement on the pin p, by whichthey are connected to the upper end, of

-the long arm of lever 0.

A spring of any kind may he attached to the long arm of the lever 0 tokeep it in its normal position, and this spring may he adjustable toregulate the degree of force with which the presser-foot is kept uponthe material to be sewed. In the drawings I have shown a simple elastichand, S, though, of course,a spring of any form may heused.

The operation is as follows: The material of varying thickness, beingplaced under thepresserfoot and regularly fed, will vary the height ofthe presser-foot above the taloleas,t`or example, in sewing the sole ofa shoe onto the upper-and every change of position in the presser-footthrough-the lever O and straps Q and Q' moves the fulcrum K in theinclined slot L in the standards M and N, and also changes the positionof the fulcruin K in the slot I of the needle-lever F, and this changein the position of the fulcrum K causes the needle-leverF to give theneedle-har C a greater or less elevation without causing the slightestvariation in the point to which the eye of the needle uniformlydescends, but varying the l rising motion alone, and thus givesautomativention the presser-bar is slotted for a suflically thenecessary pull. on the needle-thread and the proper time for the feed tooperate properly without-the possibility of the shuttle or loopermissing a stitch, however numerous the Variations of thiolrnessof thematerial being sewed may be7 and without the least interruption to theregular continuing of the sewu g.

My invention is of easy adaptationto other uses; 4but in this connectionI only claim itwhen applied to a sewing-machine Nor do I limit myself`to this mechanism alone, for my invention maybe rendered useful invarious changes of mechanical adaptations.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent,'isv 2 l. Automatically controlling the throw of the needle, insewing' vmaterials of varying thickness, by the pressenfoot,substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of a needle-lever with a presser-foot, substantiallyin the manner andy for the purpose set forth.

' FRANCIS D. BALLOU.

Witnesses: l 4

W. M. PARKER,- FRA'NoIs L. CLARKE.

